Dr. Patty Hatfield

Gerald D. Stephens Professor of Risk and Finance

Dr. Patricia Hatfield teaches undergraduate courses in the areas of corporate financial theory, financial analysis, capital budgeting, as well as personal finance. In addition she teaches the finance curriculum in the Theresa S. Falcon Executive MBA program and in numerous executive development programs.

Dr. Hatfield has authored or co-authored 18 articles in referred academic journals including the Journal of Business and Economic Research, Journal of Financial Education and Journal of Behavioral Finance. Her research interests focus on corporate restructuring activities, capital budgeting and dividend policy. Most recently, she has researched business case studies and has published in the Journal of Business Case Studies. She also has presented at numerous professional conferences across the nation and won two best paper awards.

In 2008, Dr. Hatfield was named the Gerald D. Stephens Professor of Risk Management and Finance––only the second professor to hold Stephens Professorship. The Gerald D. Stephens Professor in Risk Management and Finance was established by RLI Corp. in 1993 to provide a distinguished member of the Finance and Quantitative Methods Department with the opportunity to address the needs of the insurance industry. The Professorship encourages professional excellence and rewards a faculty member who creatively educates students in risk management and insurance to prepare them for successful careers in the insurance and financial services industry.

Dr. Hatfield was a double major as an undergraduate, earning bachelor’s degrees in finance and economics from Eastern Kentucky University in 1983. She received her MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky prior to coming to Bradley in 1990.